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Server platforms Toolkit

WAP 2.0: Fearsome features

Tags:
HTML,
Mobile,
WAP,
XHTML

Harshad Oak Builder.com

Published: 03 Jul 2002 15:29 BST

WAP and WML
Wireless Markup Language (WML) is an integral part of the WAP architecture (see Figure A). WML is a markup language based on XML that was developed and is maintained by the WAP Forum.

Figure A

WAP architecture

WML is actually well formed XML that adheres to predefined rules. It uses display tags to present content in a form suitable for mobile devices. In an ideal situation, the Web server dishes out WML content solely to be displayed on WAP browsers. A number of WAP gateways can also translate HTML to WML. However, you shouldn't rely on this feature, because it won't really provide a truly accurate WAP display.

WAP 2.0 brings new standards
With version 2.0, WAP moved toward adopting widely accepted Internet standards. The W3C-defined XHTML Basic standard has been adopted as the basis for WAP 2.0. XHTML Basic is the mobile version of XHTML 1.0, on which the WAP Forum based its XHTML Mobile Profile.

WAP CSS is the mobile version of cascading style sheets (CSS) that has only those features of CSS that are relevant to the mobile environment. XHTML and CSS puts more formatting power in the developer's command. Using XHTML and CSS, you could even display the same document on different devices using distinct presentation capabilities. WAP 2.0 also includes WML 1.x extensions to ensure backward compatibility.

With WAP 2.0, the gateway is no longer that critical a component of the WAP architecture. Also, content no longer needs to be binary encoded; XHTML goes through in text format. However, because many people still rely on mobile devices that require the WAP 1.0 standard, and because the WAP/WSP stack is being used for transport, you will still need to support WAP 1.0 gateways.

So even though WAP 2.0 offers a formidable set of features, you should probably play it safe in your current development and stick with the 1.x standards for the time being.

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